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Do I change them? Im trying to replace the front mech cable on my Canyon, the cables are hidden within the frame, and having spent 15 minutes blindly stabbing the cable down through the frame im no closer at all the getting it into the guide under the BB. It just seems to disappear within the frame. Is there a technique that im missing or is just hit and hope?
I'm guessing you completely removed the old cable first...
Various tricks - a bit of thread in one hole, vacuum cleaner at the other hole. Or thread and a little magnet.
And yeah, the clever way is to not remove the old cable first 😉
Ha, yes Jambo I got that far... 😥
That was your first mistake! Next time just tape the new cable to the old one before you pull it out.
Now you've got Ben's ideas, or continue to blindly stab.
Once you can get a bit of thread through by whatever means you can think of, it's easy to tie it to the cable and pull it through. That has always worked best for me when I've done it.
1st rule don't take the old ones out until you know how to get the news ones in.
if theres no outer then a piece of thin tubing pushed in over the old cable - slide old cable out -new one in- slide outer erm out.
Cable liner threaded over the old cable before removal, take out old cable, then thread the new cable through the in situ liner - that thin plastic sheath stuff that's only slightly bigger than an inner cable - then remove the liner leaving the new inner in place. But it's too late for that now...
I remember trying to cable up a Canyon with internal routing. The old cable had been removed already. I ended up virtually stripping the bike down to get the new cable through the internal guides.
I've used the hooky end of a spoke before which works well to pull the inner out if the hole in the frame. Push the cable just past the hole and then use the spoke to grab it.
Right, when you got your Canyon, you will have received all sorts of manuals, bits & pieces, etc. One of the things you got was a long thin plastic tube (nows the time to regret throwing that way).
To replace a cable, you disconnect the mech end and remove the outer and ferrules from the mech end but DO NOT remove anything else.
Next use that thin plastic tube and push it over the inner. Push it on as far as it will go. Then tease out the ferrule and outer from the bar end exit from the frame.
Push the inner AND the plastic tube so it emerges from the frame. You should now have the plastic tube and inner showing BOTH ends of the internally routed cable.
Next carefully pull the inner out of teh plastic tube, leaving just the plastic tube in teh frame with the ends hanging out both ends. Remove rest of inner & outers.
Now, put a new inner in the shifter and add furrules and outer for the 'bar' end of the cable rtun. Push the inner through the plastic tube until it emerges out of the other end of the plastic tube.
Pull the plastic tube off and finish cable fitting.
Store the plastic tube safely for next time.
Easy!
I wonder how the manufacturers/assemblers do it?
just hit and hope?
Pretty much if you have already removed the originals.
Have fun with that one. I recommend having a mate with a torch trying to grab the cable, whilst you feed it through the frame
All of the above or
Get so drunk you reach a zen like state of steadiness - slump to the floor swearing you will never let a Klein into the house again, and wonder how to remove a kebab skewer from inside a bike frame 🙂
How did Canyon get the cable in there in the first place?
They start with a cable and then make the tube around it.
Take it to your LBS, having learnt yourself a valuable lesson?
As previous member said. Use the straws that come with the bike. Slide over old cable. Then remove old cable. Slide in new one. Whole thing takes about 15mins. As you've removed the old cable a lot of cursing and poking will get it out in the end.
As you've already gone past the point of no return, I'd suggest using an alternative but more pliable material to get a chaser through the hole.
String is much easier to vacuum out of a hole than a gear cable!
Once you've got your chaser you can start to use the methods above fixing your new cables to the string and pulling back through the frame
A length of inner cable with an *almost* 90º bend tweaked into it about 30mm from the end works well. Feed the cable through then you can rotate/spin the cable until the cable starts heading in the right direction. Small needle nose pliers to grab it will help too. Ben's thread and hoover trick works well too.
On a 223 and a 222 I have threaded an old spoke or part of a spoke into the outer as you can bend the spoke so that it virtually pops out the hole at the other end making drawing the outer through a very easy process.
No idea if the Canyon may be similar.
I have a Nerve AM and to get the rear mech cable through I had to strip the front mech cable off fully and drop the little plastic guide thing out of the frame - this revealed a larger opening and the whole thing was then really easy.
I then went 1x10 as I couldn't face messing around with the front mech any more!
Ha did it. It seems the appropriate technique is to swear profusely and consume inappropriate amounts of caffeine.
old metal coat hanger straightened?
I'm quite impressed with the amount of people who've said "this is how you should have done it...//...but that's no good to you now"
in the same vein...what you should have done is not buy a bike with internal cabling. 🙂
are cables and spokes magnetic? cable in one end, strong magnet on spoke, push spoke through other end try to "attract" the cable?
Edit
well done, this ^^^ is no good to you now then 🙂Ha did it.
ac282 - MemberThey start with a cable and then make the tube around it.
😆
Did same thing - my solution = much swearing, then took the bottom plastic guide completely out, shine a bright light up into the frame, feed old wire down into frame, look for it and use wife's tweezers to grab it, then use this as a guide to feed outer over wire etc as normal
Taking out the bottom plastic guide really helped!
Same issue on my cube first time i replaced the cables.
I found dental floss in at one end and hover on the other end and hey presto job done.
Then its just a matter of pulling the new cable through.
ive used a thin piece of welding rod before, with some careful bending/shapeing at the end and a torch ive poked it thru both holes then tied the inner cable to the rod and pulled it thru (my bike has no outer cable on the inside)
Bike in stand as high as you can get it, remove guide from under BB, angle frame so it's almost vertical, thread cable in, use a torch and tweezers to fish the end of the cable out. Swear profusely and keep trying till you get it. Remove BB foe extra faff and swearing opportunities.
thread and a vacuum. easy!
I basically just stabbed the cable down frame many, many times. The law of averages stated that it had to come through at some point. Of course I was so shocked when it came out the right hole the first that I pulled it straight back out again. Thank God the kids weren't in the garage with me, they would be in counselling for years with language I spewed.